This paper presents a study on bioinspired rigid-flexible coupling adaptive compliant motion control of a robot gecko with hybrid actuation for space stations. The biomimetic robot gecko is made of a rigid trunk, four motor-driven active legs with dual-degree-of-freedom shoulder joints, and four pneumatic flexible pleated active attachment–detachment feet. The adaptive impedance model consists of four input parameters: the inertia coefficient, stiffness coefficient, damping coefficient, and segmented expected plantar force. The robot gecko is equipped with four force sensors mounted on its four feet, from which the normal force of each foot can be sensed in real-time. Based on the sensor signal, the variable stiffness characteristics of the feet in different states are analyzed. Furthermore, an adaptive active compliance control strategy with whole-body rigidity–flexibility-force feedback coupling is proposed for the robot gecko. Four sets of experiments are presented, including open-loop motion control, static anti-interference experiment, segmented variable stiffness experiment, and adaptative compliant motion control, both in a microgravity environment. The experiment results indicated that the presented control strategy worked well and the robot gecko demonstrates the capability of stable attachment and compliant detachment, thereby normal impact and microgravity instability are avoided. It achieves position tracking and force tracking while exhibiting strong robustness for external disturbances.

The inherent flexibility and nonlinearity of soft robots bring a challenge to their actuation and controlling. Especially, developing a portable drive and control system for bionic adhesive pneumatic soft robots (BAPSRs), with high accuracy and responsiveness to improve adhesion and desorption operations, remains a difficult task. In this paper, we aim to develop a high-integration programmable pneumatic system (hiPPS) for use in untethered, size-limited, weight-constrained soft robot applications. The complete design and operational mode are demonstrated, specifically, the dynamic electro-pneumatic characteristics of the system are illustrated through the construction of a microcontroller-based pressure control system that achieves high-integration and programmability. Based on the characteristic curve, an improved fuzzy piecewise PID feedback controller is proposed for the hiPPS system to achieve precise and continuous pressure supply and regulation, as well as to adjust the speed of inflation and deflation. Experimental results indicate that the hiPPS with the novel improved controller can achieve a wide range of pressure from -60 to 100 kPa, with pressure errors within 1.5 kPa, and outperformed a regular controller in realizing adhesion and desorption operations for BAPSRs. Our system liberates the pneumatic soft robots (PSRs) from tethered cumbersome air supply and trivial components by making a lightweight, small-scale pneumatic system with fine-grained control, which enables new possibilities for mobile soft robots.

It is challenging to accurately judge the actual end position of the manipulator—regarded as a rigid body—due to the influence of micro-deformation. Its precise and efficient control is a crucial problem. To solve the problem, the Hamilton principle was used to establish the partial differential equation (PDE) dynamic model of the manipulator system based on the infinite dimension of the working environment interference and the manipulator space. Hence, it resolves the common overflow instability problem in the micro-deformable manipulator system modeling. Furthermore, an infinite-dimensional radial basis function neural network compensator suitable for the dynamic model was proposed to compensate for boundary and uncertain external interference. Based on this compensation method, a distributed boundary proportional differential control method was designed to improve control accuracy and speed. The effectiveness of the proposed model and method was verified by theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and experimental verification. The results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the response speed while ensuring accuracy.

Soft gripper systems have inherent flexibility and remarkable interactivity security. However, balancing load-bearing capacity, deformation, complexity, and adaptability in a single gripper remains a substantial challenge. In this study, we therefore introduce a collaborative optimization strategy for the design, fabrication, and control of a pneumatically actuated, tapered soft gripper. This strategy integrates a design optimization method (based on parameter-response analysis for high adaptability) with a dual-layer control strategy designed for novel, dexterous multi-grasping modes, thereby delivering superior load capacity. Experimental results demonstrate that, without increased complexity, our gripper achieves a maximum bending angle of 260 ∘ , a load capacity of 15 N, and exhibits excellent high-grasp compliance-accommodating objects up to 252% of the finger span size. It realizes a well-balanced combination of simplicity, deformation, strength, and controllability. Furthermore, this work provides a systematic framework covering the entire lifecycle of soft grippers, from simulation and design to fabrication and control, offering valuable insights for future soft gripper research.